As the transportation conference committee in Congress is debating the future of funding for bicycling and walking projects, the Federal Highway Administration is busy funding the country's best and most innovation multi-modal transportation projects. Not surprisingly, many of those projects either focus on or include bicycling and walking infrastructure.

For the past 20 years, local elected officials have been given rare access to state transportation funds through a handful of programs administered by state Departments of Transportation as grant programs. These also happen to be the primary sources of funding for bicycling and walking initiatives: Safe Routes to School, Transportation Enhancements and Recreational Trails.

Kansas may conjure images of the yellow-brick road, but if you're a bicyclist, the Prairie State doesn't exactly spring to mind as a prime cycling destination.
Well, think again.
The top team in the National Bike Challenge for the month of June hails from Topeka, Kansas — and they're proving they're no fly-over state when it comes to bicycling.
If you're wondering about that acronym at the top of...

News out of the conference committee working on the federal transportation bill isn't good. While Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Rep. John Mica (R-FL) yesterday announced that "the conferees have moved forward toward a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on a highway reauthorization bill," we're hearing that important programs that fund biking and walking are in urgent peril.

Depending on who you listen to the effort to get a new long term transportation bill is either stalling out or discussions are on-going and deals are being made on some issues -- including local control over bicycle and pedestrian spending.